Born in Caldwell, now Lake George, New York, DeWitt Hay was a little-known bank-note engraver and landscape artist who was one of the founding members in 1850 of the New York Watercolor Society. He settled in Tarrytown in 1870 and painted in the Adirondacks, primarily views of Lake George and Saint Regis Lake.

One portrait by him has been found, the subject being a wilderness tour guide.